Posts Tagged ‘?’

At the end of every interview the tables are turned and the interviewer will ask, “Do you have any questions for me?” Let me give you a hint—you do.

I do? Yes you do. And let me tell you why. First, asking questions is a terrific way to find out information about the company. An interview is your chance, a one-on-one opportunity, to find out for yourself everything you wanted to know about the company of your dreams or at least the company of your daydreams. The other research you do—the career fairs, the company website browsing, the inside info you get from friends—should synthesize the questions you ask at the interview not take their place. Companies are like people in that respect—there is always more information to discover and more questions to ask.

The second reason you want to ask questions is a more strategic one. Imagine you are on a date at your favorite Italian restaurant with the cute guy or girl you just met at the hip-hop club downtown while you were dancing over Whiskey Sours and the thumping base of Ne-Yo’s “Closer”, my current favorite song. You just spent 45 minutes asking about your date’s background, their goals, their dreams, found it all very interesting and were yearning to share your life. And then all of the sudden they raised their hand for the check, threw down a 20 spot, said “Nice talking to you” and walked out. How would you feel? Probably horrible—off balance, like you wasted your time and there would definitely be a sense that they weren’t that into you. The same holds true during interviews. Not asking a question will signal to the interviewer that you aren’t really that interested in the company they represent. So you’ll want to ask thoughtful questions to convince them otherwise.

So without further adieu let’s talk about some common categories of questions you might want to ask and give a few examples of each.

Get them to talk about themselves
One of the best kinds of questions to ask are those about the experiences of the recruiter in the context of the company you are interviewing with. Research has shown that when the interviewer talks about themselves they will perceive a better overall experience about the interview and are more likely to remember you. I highly recommend asking at least one question about the interviewer not least because it is a very effective way to gain some real insight into what an insider sees as the opportunities and challenges of working at a particular firm.

Here is a short list of questions to get you started:

What do you love about this company?

What career path did you take at this company to get to your current position?

Why did you choose to work for this firm over other options you had?

What are the biggest challenges a new employee would face when working for your organization?

Ask about the position
Depending on the amount of information available on a company’s website and what you are able to acquire at a career fair, there is a wide range of information you may (or may not) know about the position you are applying for. For that reason it may be worth your while to ask some questions about your target position.

Some possible examples might be:

What is the typical career path of this position?

What do employees in your company like about this position?

What challenges do employees in this position face?

What skills make a successful candidate?

What sorts of projects might I expect to work on in this position?

What sort of travel opportunities does this position entail?

Ask about something you learned about at the career fair or from another employee

Another great set of questions to ask are those that delve into information you discovered at a career fair or from another employee at the company. You can get can get massive bonus points if you take the initiative to use your school’s alumni network, career services office, Linked In (a website dedicated to networking), or some other means to contact a current employee. When framing this question at an interview you may want to mention that you talked to a past employee who said XYZ and you wanted to compare and contrast that view with that of the interviewer.

Ask about something you researched
One way to demonstrate the research you have done while at the same time gaining insight into a company is by asking a question that builds on information you have already acquired. Perhaps you read a news article about a new product a company is coming out with, a new office that opened abroad, or a new environmental initiative the company started. But be careful, don’t ask a question that might be taken as being obscure or irrelevant, as this might be seen as you simply showing off how much you read the Wall Street Journal.

Looking at recent news articles about some large companies I might ask these questions:

I was reading about Jacob Jinglehimmer Smith, the new CEO your company recently brought on, and I was wondering how his hiring might affect the key values and direction of your company?

Because of the economic crisis, I have been reading that many companies are shifting some key elements of their corporate strategies. Is your company doing the same, and how might that affect the day-to-day work of employees.

I was reading an article recently that was detailing the aging work force in the aeronautical industry. What kind of knowledge transfer best practices do you have in place to make sure that young employees have an opportunity to learn from the experience of the older work force before they retire?

Alternatively, you might have looked on a company website during your research effort. Looking at the home page for a company, I might ask these questions:

While looking on your website I noticed there is a full time leadership development program available for new hires. I was wondering what that program looked like on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis and how it interfaces with other entry-level positions?

I noticed on your website that there are mentors available to help advise some employees as their career progresses. Do all new employees get a mentor and what sorts of issue does the mentor help address?

I read recently that your company was listed in Forbes Top 100 Diverse Companies in the US. What opportunities are available for me to help get involved in promoting the diversity initiatives of your company?

I saw work-life balance mentioned briefly on your website, but I was unable to find details. What sorts of mechanisms and best practices are in place to promote work-life balance?

Ask about something that came up during the interview
During the interview the employer often times mentions something that interests you. It might be a company sponsored rotation program in the finance department or the fact that the analyst position you’re applying for usually leads to a consulting position within two years. This is a great time to ask any follow-up questions you might have.

Other common questions
There are many other common questions that people are often curious about asking and here are just a couple:

Do you have any hesitations about my application?

What’s the next step?

In fact you should always ask what the next step is if it is not explained by the recruiter. Otherwise you risk days or week of nervousness wondering who is suppose to contact you in what amount of time for what kind of next application step.

What shouldn’t I ask?

Most of this falls into the common sense category, but the main concern I hear students inquiring about during career panels is whether it is OK to ask about salary or benefits during an interview. Opinions between recruiters vary on this topic, but I recommend that you don’t ask about salary or benefits during a first interview, although this may be appropriate during later interview rounds.

How many questions should I ask

I would recommend asking 3-5 questions. It is good to keep track of how much time is left in the interview and read the interviewer’s body language to get a sense if they are getting antsy. Also, keep in mind the time of day. Before lunch the interviewer may be hungry and at the end of the day they will probably be tired, but again watch for specific body language.

Questions strategy

Now that we’ve talked about some typical types of questions and given some examples, it is worth taking a few moments to discuss some strategy behind asking these questions.

-Open Ended Phrasing

First, you’ll want to frame questions using open ended phrasing. For example, say you are curious about how much travel is required for the position. You wouldn’t want to say, “Will I get to travel?”. The reason is two-fold. First, the question is phrased such that the response is a “yes” or “no” when in reality you want to give the interviewer some room for explanation. Second, you don’t want to bias your questions such that the interviewer gets the impression that you are just trying to get hired so that you can travel. A more open ended way to ask the question would be, “What kind of travel opportunities are available? Another quick example: you wouldn’t want to say, “How long will it take me to get promoted” as that will signal that you aren’t really interested in the job you are being hired for but only moving upward. Instead, you might phrase this question as, “What does the typical career path for this position look like?”

-Positive Phrasing

Being positive in an interview is extremely important, so try to avoid negative phrasing in your questions. Instead of saying, “Are there any sucky parts to working here?” a very brash phrasing indeed, try asking, “What are the biggest challenges a new employee might face in your organization.” Interviewers really look for, and appreciate, a positive attitude during an interview as this is a sign that the same demeanor will carry over into the workplace.

– Never ask without researching first

You should never ask a question without first researching the information to see if it is available from a company’s website. There is no better way to give a bad impression to a recruiter than wasting their time by not doing basic research to prove you have more than a passing interest in their firm.

-Ask relevant questions

Don’t show off, phrase all questions in a way that makes them relevant to your potential position. Note that this could include company wide changes in strategy or company values and initiatives.

-Memorization of Questions

This is a helpful tip for most students because many people, myself included, can get pretty nervous during interviews. Having to suddenly think up a question on the spot can lead to a variety of poorly chosen and poorly phrased questions. For that reason, I would come into the interview with about 3 or so questions memorized, that way if you panic, you’ll have some questions to fall back on. In practice, you’ll probably have some questions in mind anyway before stepping foot into the interview. If you find yourself completely unprepared in the interview and have no questions memorized, remember you can always ask about the interviewer’s experience in the company and what their career path within the company has been.

OK, well that’s it for today. I’d love to know what questions you’ve found to be successful in an interview. So leave your response by posting a comment below.